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Rosie The Riveter Guinness World Record

(You have landed on the webpage about the results of our first Rosie World Record attempt at Willow Run in March, 2014. There have been several more World Records set since then.)

NOVEMBER, 2014: It’s Official! Guinness has awarded SaveTheBomberPlant.org a brand new World Record for “The Largest Gathering of People Dressed as Rosie the Riveter.” The record was set on March 29, 2014 at Willow Run Airport in Michigan.

776 people dressed as Rosie the Riveter gathered at Willow Run Airport to call attention to the effort to save, preserve and renovate a part of Rosie’s historic WWII-era Willow Run B-24 Bomber Plant as the future NEW home for the Yankee Air Museum.

Learn more about “the original” Rosie the Riveter’s iconic factory on this website, and click the big, red DONATE button to be a part of this great nationwide effort!

Thank you to everyone who participated, the 19 real WWII Rosies who honored us with their presence, and our hard-working volunteers for making this spectacular event happen!

Scroll below for:

Event highlights

Event background and story

How to get the Official Guinness Photo

How participants can get their Official Guinness Certificate (we have the info now!)

The Official Guinness Letter of Acceptance

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EVENT were many, and included the spectacle of hundreds of women and girls of all ages dressed as the beloved American icon, the loud cheers that erupted as the 19 elderly WWII Rosie The Riveters took their place at the front of the group, and an honor guard and gifted soloist presenting the National Anthem before a hushed and reverent crowd.

The 776 “Rosies” had to hold their pose in a roped off area for 5 timed, videotaped minutes to satisfy Guinness’ criteria. During that time, the ladies spontaneously raised their voices together in song, singing “God Bless America” and “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” The oldest Rosie in the group was 97, and the youngest 3 months old. Everyone present felt it was a moment to remember for the rest of their lives.

The day was complete when it was announced that Michigan Governor Rick Snyder had declared March 29, 2014 “Rosie The Riveter Day” in Michigan!

THE EVENT’S STORY BEGAN in October, 2013 with SaveTheBomberPlant.org’s first attempt to set a Guinness World Record for the most Rosie the Riveters. There had been no previous record set for this, so we were attempting to set a “first-time” record, and Guinness set the bar at at least 250 “Rosies.” With only 2 weeks to publicize the event, we attracted over 140 Rosies, including 4 real WWII Rosie the Riveters… not enough to create a World Record, but it made for a great day, great pictures and some great news stories, followed quickly by a deadline extension to May 1, 2014 for our fundraising efforts to Save Rosie’s Factory.

With more time, volunteer organizer Jane Vass decided to try again for the record this March, and the result this time was an unqualified success!

“THE OFFICIAL GUINNESS PHOTO” is the photo that will appear on the Guinness World Records website, and in the Guinness Book of Records, if they choose to include our event in the book (that’s entirely up to Guinness; they only select certain World Records for inclusion in their Annual Book and on their website. They’re not going to notify us either way, so we’ll just have to see what they do. You can help by watching the Guinness website and posting the link to the Yankee Facebook Page when/if it appears.)

We appreciate that many of you have offered to pay for the photo to help with fundraising, but with the May 1, 2014 demolition deadline looming, we don’t have the time or “man” power to set up a payment and fulfillment system, so you can request a high resolution digital file of the Official Guinness World Record Photo by contacting us here.

And, most importantly, you can still “Do Your Part” to Save Rosie’s Factory when you…

…click on the Big, Red Donate button at the top of the page, and save, preserve and renovate as many square feet of the Willow Run Bomber Plant as you are able! Together… “We Can Do It!”

“THE OFFICIAL GUINNESS CERTIFICATE OF PARTICIPATION” is generated by the Guinness people, and is available for purchase to all of the ladies who participated in setting the World Record. All proceeds from the sale of the certificates go to Guinness.

NOTE: our role in the certificate process is limited to making you aware that these certificates are available to purchase, from Guinness, and how to go about seeking one from Guinness. We cannot apply for a certificate on your behalf, we have no special understanding of the Guinness process nor do we have any influence we can bring to bear in the event that you have a special request or something goes wrong. So, if you encounter difficulties, please contact Guinness.

Guinness has requested that we supply the certificate information ONLY to Official Participants in the World Record, so please click and fill out this form, and then we will send you the URL link and verification codes that you will need to purchase your certificate from the Guinness online store.

“THE OFFICIAL GUINNESS LETTER” Here’s the letter we got from Guinness, for your reading pleasure. Congratulations, ladies, you really are “officially amazing” in the eyes of the whole world!

We are delighted to confirm that you have successfully achieved a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for ‘Largest gathering of people dressed as Rosie the Riveter’. We would like to congratulate you on your record-breaking achievement. You are OFFICIALLY AMAZING.

Thank you and congratulations once again on your achievement!

Yours sincerely,

Records Management Team
GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS

Let’s be like Rosie, get the job done, and save, preserve and renovate Willow Run… together, we can do it!

Do your part. Click on the big, red “Donate” button, and give generously…. and please tweet, post and share to spread the word!